Old and busted: No Kings.
New hotness: No Regimes.
Apparently not many people were feeling the "rage against the regime" this past Saturday, which was the latest in a series of protests promoted by the anti-Trump group 50501.
Protests were supposed to take place in places like Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh and Wilmington, but there was little to no reporting for any activities other than the Raleigh location, save for one report in Haywood County and one report from Winston-Salem.
Social media posts of the protests were scant on X but Facebook yielded a public post about a Charlotte protest that appears to have had a whopping half dozen people at it, including a person dressed in a Statue of Liberty costume.
The permit pulled for the Raleigh protest was for up to 10,000 but reported estimates varied - again. WRAL said "hundreds" of people showed up, while CBS17 cited a law enforcement officer who estimated 1,500.
Looks like somewhere in the middle, 500 maybe? Honestly, was this worth getting a chopper in the air for?
Moral Monday's unofficial band, the Raging Grannies, kicked things off in Raleigh with a song called "Now You've Pissed of Grandma."
There was some marching, sign waving, chanting and then forming a "human chain" on the Halifax Mall behind the legislature.
Protesters also did the macarena and there were a lot of images and videos posted on Facebook — some of which were extremely vulgar.
This image was publicly posted on Facebook by a woman named Judith Pearson Gilbert:
According to 50501's "Rage Against the Regime" event website, there were 18 protests scheduled for North Carolina and 472 listed nationally. The Raleigh event was titled "People for Democracy: Rage against the Regime."
"We're standing in solidarity for immigration rights,” organizer Kate Dieter-Maradei told WRAL. “We're standing in solidarity for voting rights. We're standing in solidarity for women's health rights. These are all important issues for us in our time and our society. We have to stay together."
Dieter-Maradei is a court certified mediator, and runs Deiter Mediation, "her own alternative dispute resolution practice," according to a North Carolina Bar Association blog post.
Well, they didn't stand in solidarity long. The Raleigh location started around 10 a.m. and everyone disappeared by 11:40 following the "human chain."
And, like many of the 50501 protests, a lot of the crowd seemed to be older or elderly folks.
More To The Story
Common Cause, a left-leaning advocacy group focused mainly on voting rights, was a clear promoter of the event based on the group's social media posts, as well as the pre-printed posters bearing Common Cause's name that were held by protestors.
Common Cause was not the only backer of the Raleigh protest. The host was "People for Democracy" and the other supporters included Deiter Mediation, Raleigh Boots on the Ground, Common Cause NC, Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic, and 50501NC.
The event page on Facebook states why these folks were protesting:
"We demand an end to the political extremism & blatant voter suppression in North Carolina, the deployment of ICE in our communities & construction of concentration camps, the lack of gun control to protect our citizens, the attacks on LGBTQIA+ & reproductive rights, the destruction of the pillars that support our democracy and the three branches of government, and the dismantling of our fundamental rights & K-12 education system."
Among the information that went out about the Aug. 2 protest was a "messaging guide," that included an embedded link to a "media advisory." The direct link to the guide is here, but these things tend to disappear so a copy can be viewed and downloaded here and click here for the media advisory template.
Included in the 50501 emails that went out about the Aug. 2 protest was the date of the next protest: Labor Day.
According to a 50501 email, "We are mobilizing with May Day Strong and a national grassroots coalition to send a message on Labor Day: Workers Over Billionaires! Watch our social media pages today for more information!"
There is already a dedicated webpage for May Day Strong. This one has an Occupy Wall Street vibe and has a "Host Toolkit,"at the bottom of the page. A copy can be viewed/downloaded here.
Some of the items in the host toolkit include direct actions and tactics.
Check back after Labor day to see how the next 50501 protest turns out.
Related Articles:
